Sonko leadership style baffles friend and foe

Nairobi Governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko. [Photo, Standard]

Robin of Loxley, better known as Robin Hood is a legendary outlaw in English folklore, declared an outlaw by the elite but was beloved by the townspeople. In many ways, Nairobi Governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko has lived the character of Robin Hood in his first year of office.

He has a generous heart as city slum dwellers would attest. His amorphous outfit, Sonko Rescue Team scoured the city and environs in the much-publicised “rescue” operations even before he was elected governor. Like Robin Hood, Sonko is revered in Nairobi’s slums.

Sonko rode to City Hall on this popularity wave. Where garbage heaps had become mountains, he and his deputy Polycarp Igathe promised a cleaner, safer city.

Indeed, the city’s clean-up exercise went a notch higher with workers cleaning up the streets, sometimes at night.

Dark pedestrian walks were lit. Inefficient officials sacked. Grabbed land meant for city utilities such as fire stations and school playing fields was repossessed.

Demeanour on mend

Even his demeanour was on the mend. From spotting rugged jeans and T-shirts, Sonko has of late donned Western-style suits at official functions.

His hair is now devoid of the rainbow colours of yesteryears and his heavy “bling” scaled down. He even has a British accent to boot if his speech at the Blue Economy conference is anything to go by!

But while Sonko lived to his actions in 2018, his leadership style continued to baffle. It is difficult to know the exact basis and reason behind some decisions he has taken.

His crack of dawn visits to Pumwani only for blueprints to emerge in the evening, and the ban on matatus from accessing the CBD are pointers. In the end, they were all a fiasco.

His blowing hot and cold on the issue of deputy governor is another one.

One day he was fielding proposals, the other day he was nominating outside his choices and the next one he was quiet on the matter. Barely four months after the elections, Sonko had a nasty fallout with Igathe, his then deputy. To date, the seat remains vacant.

However, it is his county executive members who have fallen directly in the line of Sonko’s fury. Few counties have seen a high turnover of the top leaderships as has Nairobi. From Veska Kangongo in Devolution docket, to Danvas Makori in Finance, Hitan Majevdia in Health and County Secretary Peter Kariuki – they were unceremoniously fired or suspended.

Sonko accused Makori of espionage while Majevdia was fired at a public function in Kangemi attended by donors.

The latest is Janet Ouko, who until this Monday held the Education, Youth, Sports and Gender docket. She resigned shortly after renewal of her one-year contract, accusing Sonko of bullying staff.

“Some people behave like they have married you when they appoint you to a position; it is like they have given birth to you. That is not so. This is a job and the terms are clear,” said Ouko during a television interview.

But not one to be outdone, Sonko hit back. “I am here to defend my image and leadership,” he told the media.

“I fault Janet for saying that my leadership is full of blackmail and intimidation….but I have accepted her resignation.”

To try turn the tables on her, he faulted her for massive loss of bursary cash, claiming that cheques issued to schools in well-publicised events were returned to City Hall where they would be cancelled and new ones issued in favour of new “well connected beneficiaries.”

But these accusations baffled Ouko: “Did he not know about that scandal when he was renewing my contract?

Because the documents he has shared with you are dated January 8 (2019) yet he renewed this contract on September 28 (2018).

“Last year, he actually promised to give me a headache over this same bursary issue. I figured out that it would be foolhardy to wait for someone to unleash hell on me.”

Interestingly, when a Senate watchdog raised concerns regarding the high number of county executive officers that have been sent packing, the governor singled out Ouko as one of the most hardworking.

Now, only two of his remaining executive members have long-term contracts.

Those who have crossed paths with the governor have lived to tell the tale of a ruthless administrator. From recorded phone calls and videos to personal encounters, such engagements have left victims with bleeding noses.

Mike Maina, a Nairobi businessman and proprietor of Marbel Arch Hotel in the city must have had a messy Christmas after tasting the wrath of the governor.

According to Sonko, Maina is a heartless man who has no qualms demolishing homes belonging to poor people in Kayole, a key support base for the governor.

In one of those dreaded phone calls, Sonko went on to utter unpalatable words to Maina, whose efforts to calm the agitated Sonko became a cropper. Sonko followed with a bulldozer that tore down the hotel’s parking perimeter wall.

“I was trying to be a little calm. He talked very badly. At one time I was so hurt I went silent. It is very painful,” Maina told a local media station.

According to Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja, the indecisive nature and lone ranger tactics of the governor stem from lack of consultation with other elected leaders. During a recent talk show, Sakaja lamented how he previously urged the governor to convene a meeting with all elected leaders to no avail.

“I have said to the governor, let us sit together like other counties. Nairobi has 17 MPs, 85 MCAs, one Woman Representative, one senator and one governor.

We have never had a meeting, not even once. You might find that the MP for Roysambu has a brilliant idea on how to solve a city problem,” said Sakaja.

Sakaja seems to have taken Sonko and his knee jerk reactions to problems such as traffic congestion, garbage collection and demolitions head on, stating that he only differs with the county chief on matters of principle devoid of any political agenda.

“If that idea (to ban matatus in CBD) was so brilliant as he thinks it was, then why did they change their minds after a day?” said Sakaja.

The greatest battle for Sonko is how to hound cartels that have infiltrated almost all sectors of the city from water, health and land sectors.

“Many doubted my capabilities to run Nairobi as the county boss; I want to tell the naysayers that I have so much in store for them. I will make Nairobi the best city to live in and invest in. The revenue collected from the capital, Nairobi, will increase several folds. I have a road map for all these projects,” he told the Sunday Standard. Big dreams.

But those who would implement them are scattering. The year is still young. What the capricious Sonko has in store is impossible to tell. But the signs are not promising.